


Laser Pointers

by miraculouslycool



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Adrien just loves to catch his klutz of a very good friend, Dumb Babies, Episode: s01 Princesse Fragrance | Princess Fragrance, F/M, Fluff, Hot Mess Adrien Agreste, Humor, I think?, LadyNoir - Freeform, Oblivious Adrien Agreste, Oblivious Marinette Dupain-Cheng, So no worries, adrienette - Freeform, eventual identity reveal, he loves her so much and doesn't even know, he takes it a little too seriously, its not even that huge, minor reference to a Season 1 episode, minor spoilers for the nyc special, sort of crack...?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-06
Updated: 2020-10-06
Packaged: 2021-03-07 19:54:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,647
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26853289
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/miraculouslycool/pseuds/miraculouslycool
Summary: "Alright, you want an explanation? Do you know how your animal tendencies carry over? You purr sometimes and your teeth become sharper?" Plagg asked grouchily.Adrien subconsciously touched his mouth as he nodded."Do you know how cats chase after laser pointers? They can't restrain themselves from catching it, no matter how many times they miss it?"Adrien nodded slowly. "But I don't do that around laser pointers...""Yeah, you don't. Because Marinette is your laser pointer."-----------In which Adrien has the uncontrollable urge to not let his good friend Marinette fall on her face and he doesn't even know why.
Relationships: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug
Comments: 48
Kudos: 874





	Laser Pointers

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Missnoodles](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Missnoodles/gifts).



> The brain child of a plot bunny by Missnoodles in APS. Thanks for the idea, Noodles! 
> 
> Also I'm turning 18 on the 7th of October so this one is just shameless self-indulgence poured into a birthday present I'm giving myself. 
> 
> Happy Birthday to Me.

Adrien Agreste felt like his lungs were going to burst. 

Destroyer had taken far too long to destroy, it took him two Cataclysms and two Lucky Charms in Ladybug's case. He had already missed his first two periods and Mme. Mendelieev was going to kill him for sure- 

"Dude, there you are!" Nino waved to him from the stairs. 

Adrien dropped his bag and panted, pressing his palms to his knees. He didn't know if gaining all that extra stamina from being a superhero was overwhelming or exhausting. 

"What happened? Where were you?" Nino asked, concerned. 

"Photo...shoot...took too long, bodyguard wanted...to drive, but I was late already so-"

"You ran?" Nino guffawed, pulling out his water bottle from his bag, offering it to his agitated friend. "Dude, you are either the chillest guy I know or the craziest. Did you know you missed History and Chemistry? Marinette was earlier than you today!"

"Aw man - wait, Marinette-?" He barely got the words out when they heard a panicked wail coming from the right, and Adrien's eyes widened as he saw Marinette's foot get caught in someone's bag. 

She managed to gain her footing on the street, but it still wasn't enough. Her foot twisted and she went flailing, about to land face first into the ground. 

Adrien immediately stepped forward to catch her by her shoulders, leading to her kneeling in front of him with her hands on his chest. 

She blinked at his chest for a moment before slowly raising her eyes up to him. 

"Are you okay?" Adrien asked genuinely worried. That would have been a nasty fall if he hadn't intervened. "Nothing broken?" He looked her up and down, his eyes lingering on her knees, checking if they had been bent the wrong way. 

"No!!!" Marinette jumped up, raising her hands and standing up properly. She didn't seem to be in any pain. But still, after a fall like that...he was about to offer taking her to the school nurse when she spoke again. "I'm all okay!" 

Oh. Adrien shrugged and nodded. Nino tipped his cap at her, and he grabbed his bag from the ground as they proceeded to climb up the stairs. 

Nino was saying something about perfume bottles and he vaguely heard Rose's name, but all Adrien could think about how his hands were tingling. 

He stared down at his hand, shaking it briefly. Maybe he was numb and all the blood had rushed to his head? It wasn't like this all morning.

"Dude, you okay?" Nino clapped his hand on his back. 

"Oh!" Adrien turned to him, nodding. "Yeah, I'm..." he saw the street from the corner of his eye, but Marinette was nowhere to be seen. 

"I'm okay." He said, confused and vaguely disappointed. 

* * *

"Hey, babe," Nino turned to his girlfriend sitting behind him. "Is Marinette late again?" 

"Don't go after my girl, Nino." Alya joked. "She is getting better at being early!"

That put a smile on Adrien's face. He didn't even know why, he just liked hearing about Marinette's quirks.

"No, she's just grabbing the books from the teacher's cupboard. Madame asked her to since she is running late. Class rep duties and all." 

There was a heaving sound from the doorway, and a pair of short legs wearing pink jeggings appeared from underneath a large box. "I got the boxes!!" Marinette proudly declared. 

A ripple of worry passed through Adrien. That box looked pretty heavy, even if Marinette didn't seem to have trouble carrying it. 

She was taking careful steps though, since she couldn't exactly see in front of her. He knew she was short, but he never realised she was so tiny.

Maybe she could use an extra set of hands. 

"Hey, Marinette, let me help you!" Adrien said, getting up from his seat in the front. 

Immediately, like a switch had been flipped, Marinette's feet trod over each other, and she yelped as she keeled over backwards, taking the box with her. 

"Careful!!" Adrien reached over, grabbing one of her hands, preventing her from falling over, and placing a hand underneath the cardboard box, catching it as well. 

"Woooo!" Alix cheered, to both their surprise. 

"Dude, what?!" Kim gaped. 

"Awesome catch, Adrien." Alya drawled smugly. 

Adrien had ears for none of their praises. 

Quickly placing the box on the table, he turned to Marinette, who had frozen in place. 

"Are you okay, Marinette? That looked like a nasty fall!" His hand still hadn't left hers. 

"I'm gokay - I MEAN, I'm good and okay!!" She blabbered, pulling her hand out of his, gesticulating wildly. 

"I'm sorry," Adrien said sheepishly, trying to ignore that feeling of pins and needles in his hand. "I didn't mean to startle you." 

"No! It's okay! You can make me fall anytime - NO, uh, I meant, it's okay, you didn't mean to. Thanks for catching me!" She said quickly,straining a smile at him as she ran to her seat.

Adrien nodded, stuffing his shaking hand in his pocket, relieved he didn't cause too much damage. 

* * *

He was walking down the stairs at school, when he saw Marinette talking on the phone on the ground floor, her hand reaching behind her to lean against the railing, but he immediately realised with a wince that she had heavily miscalculated just how far the iron bars were, and she was just about to stumble backwards when- 

"Gotcha!" Adrien said, appearing behind her, his hands on her shoulders, saving her from a nasty bump on the head. 

"A-Adrien!" Marinette spun around, facing him. "Thank you, I really should be more careful." 

"No problem." He said, giving her an easy smile and a wave as he left to wait for his car. 

"Oh shut up, Alya!" He vaguely heard Marinette say into the phone. 

He hoped she wouldn't be too careful, though. He would really miss the thrill of getting to catch her.

Wait, what?? 

Did he just want Marinette to fall more just so he could catch her? How much of an idiot was he?

Had the numbness in his hands spread to his brain, preventing it from functioning properly? 

He hit the side of his head in frustration, ignoring the weird stares he got.

* * *

It soon became apparent to Adrien just how new he was to school life. 

While he found Marinette tripping over herself to be very alarming, everyone else around him just took it in stride. 

"She always catches herself." Alya would shrug.

"Yeah, Marinette is pretty clumsy, but she's great at handling it." Nino would say. 

"She's always been a no-go on roller blades." Alix said, affectionately rolling her eyes. 

"Marinette is awesome! She's clumsy, but who isn't?" Rose would always have a kind word to say about everyone. 

Adrien simply didn't understand it. How did someone see Marinette about to fall and not want to catch her? 

They were playing dodgeball in P.E, and it was unsupervised by their teacher. 

So needless to say, chaos reigned. 

The less athletic Max, Rose and Mylene were the first to be out, and Ivan soon followed. He was great at getting people kicked out, but not so good at dodging, owing to his large frame. 

Whereas people like Alix were nimble as mice, effortlessly dodging everything. Kim had already gotten half the class out. 

If one got to watch the whole scene unfold as a spectator, it was clear to see two people in particular stand out, in both offense and defense. 

Marinette weaved in between Nathaniel and Juleka, while flawlessly finding her ball's target in Sabrina AND Chloe at the same time. Adrien was the only one who was able to dodge Kim's relentless pursuit of attacks. 

The hairs on the back of Adrien's neck tingled suddenly, and his head whipped around. Marinette was standing there, cheering because she had just whooped Kim's butt, not noticing Lila Rossi smirking heavily from a distance, holding the ball up above her head like a missile (which was completely against the rules of dodgeball!). 

"Not so fast!" Adrien declared in his head, racing ahead, throwing himself in front of Marinette. 

Lila's ball came flying at him, almost smashing his face. His lightning fast reflexes saved his and Marinette's life (and his modeling career), and his palms were wrapped around the ball. 

There was dead silence for a while, but that was nothing compared to the loud pounding of Adrien's heartbeat in his ears. 

He was nothing short of furious. If he hadn't intervened, Marinette could have gotten seriously injured!

"Hey, Lila!" He said, his voice laced with venom. "Friendly reminder that the ball is supposed to be thrown from below the waist!" he tossed it with perfect aim, and it hit the lying girl's thighs, leaving her shrieking. 

"You could seriously hurt someone." He said, glaring at her. 

He turned around, looking a shocked Marinette up and down. "Are you okay?" He asked, reaching out to touch her, but recoiled his hand immediately like he had been electrocuted. Damnit! He thought for sure that the numbness had gone!

"Yes, thank you." Marinette said shyly, backing up a few steps. 

To his surprise, she pummeled him in the chest with the ball he hadn't even seen her carrying. 

"Wha-hey!" He pouted, placing his hands on his hips. 

"And Marinette is the winner!!" Alya shrieked, and their entire class (barring Chloe and Lila) cheered.

Wait, really? He hadn't even noticed they were the last ones left.

"Sorry, Adrien." Marinette fixed a competitive smirk at him. "All's fair in love and dodgeball. I'll make it up to you someday." She grinned, and Adrien was struck by how tall and unflinchingly she stood, and that smug smile! He could have sworn he had seen it before!

"Yeah, you do." He stammered, giving his head a little shake. "Uh, owe me, that is." 

Truly, he didn't even mind losing. Because ever since that day, seeing Adrien Agreste rush to protect the klutz that was Marinette became the new normal.

* * *

"Why the long face?" Plagg asked him one sleepless night, several weeks later. 

"What long face?" Adrien asked. 

"I can always tell when you're moping. I know because I do it too!" Plagg said, surprisingly innocent. 

"It's just-" Adrien got up, his sleep shirt rumpled and his hair sticking up in every direction. "I've been feeling weird, lately."

"Weird how? _'Your cheese stock is depleting_ ' weird or _'Roquefort or Camembert'_ weird?" 

"No!" Adrien said exasperatedly. "I mean, I've been feeling numb and weird, especially in my hands and it always, always happens around Marinette, especially when she's about to fall or get hurt." 

"Yeah, no kidding. You looked like you wanted to cry when she fell over today after tripping on her bag. Relax, you're just worried about her well-being, it's normal." 

"No! It wasn't like that, I mean, of course I was happy she wasn't hurt but-" Adrien buried his face in his hands. "It feels different. Like I was disappointed that I wasn't the one to catch her. No, disappointed is putting it lightly, I felt like a failure!" 

Plagg blinked. "Uh, maybe it's just your Chat Noir tendencies peeking through? Like how you're always on high alert when you want to save Ladybug?" 

"I don't feel tingly around Ladybug. Yes, I do want to be on high alert for protecting her but I don't feel like there's something abnormally....deformed in me when I do it!" 

Plagg gulped. He knew what this was. His boy was head over heels for Pigtails and he didn't even know it. 

"Have you ever considered that you only do it around her? I don't see you rushing to catch your other friends."

"Gee thanks, that makes me feel so much better." Adrien said sarcastically. 

"Don't you take that tone with me, young man." Plagg snapped. "Alright, you want an explanation? Do you know how your animal tendencies carry over? You purr sometimes and your teeth become sharper?" He asked grouchily.

Adrien subconsciously touched his mouth as he nodded. 

"Do you know how cats chase after laser pointers? They can't restrain themselves from catching it, no matter how many times they miss it?" 

Adrien nodded slowly. "But I don't do that around laser pointers..." 

"Yeah, you don't. Because Marinette is your laser pointer."

"What? I'm chasing after Marinette because you think that's somehow comparable to cats chasing after a little red light? Plagg, that's ridiculous!"

"I'm ridiculous?! You're the one asking me stupid questions at 3 AM!" Plagg said, annoyed as he flew back into his cheese cabinet. "Now go to bed!" 

Adrien didn't sleep at all that night. 

How does one process having....laser pointer...syndrome?

* * *

Ladybug had called for an early patrol today, stating that she had some work in her civilian life to catch up with. 

He was there first, as always, waiting for his lady to show up. The sunset glowed in hues of pink and orange, making him sigh almost wistfully. What would it be like to have Ladybug next to him, watching this beautiful sight together? 

He imagined dark blue hair, bright expressive eyes, a sweet, kind smile - and that was when his eyes shot open. Why did he just imagine Marinette? 

Wait, no, there was no way he was imagining Marinette. He just forgot to imagine Ladybug's mask, that's all. 

"Hey, kitty cat." He started when he heard a familiar voice, and he turned to see Ladybug. She was smiling at him, though he couldn't help but notice it didn't reach her eyes. 

"What happened? Is everything okay?" He asked, walking up to her. 

"What? Noooo, everything is fine." She laughed it off. "Come on, let's go to-" she cut herself off as he saw a clear grimace on her face. 

"Ladybug, what happened? Are you in pain?" He gasped, holding her shoulders. "Did you get hurt? Was it an akuma?" 

"No, no!" She said, desperately, trying to quell his fears. "It's fine, I just twisted my ankle." 

"You JUST twisted your ankle?!" His jaw dropped. "M'lady what-?" 

"It's nothing much, I just fell down the stairs."

 _"Fell down the stairs?!"_ He paraphrased in horror. 

"Are you just going to repeat everything I say?" Ladybug said, exasperatedly, even if her eyes softened. "I'm fine, the suit absorbs most of the pain."

"Is that why you are favouring your left foot more than your right one?" He snarked, kneeling down on one knee in front of her. 

"Chat!" She shrieked. "What are you doing??" 

"No worries m'lady, if I'm going to ask for your _hand_ in _meow_ -ridge, it definitely won't be over a broken _foot_." He winked. 

She groaned. "Two puns in one sentence?" 

"Just show me." He asked gently, cupping his hands together so she could place her foot on them.

"Chat, really, there's no need for this." She muttered, embarrassed. Her cheeks were glowing red. 

"Please, m'lady?" He pleaded, giving her his signature kitty eyes combined with a pout, a tactic he knew for sure was going to work on her. 

Sighing heavily, she did as he asked, and he quietly inspected her suited foot with gentle fingers, being careful to not push or prod too much and hurt her. 

"Does it hurt to be lifting it?" He asked, without looking up at her. 

She didn't answer for a while, which made him look up at her. "M'lady?" 

"Y-yes?" She squeaked suddenly. "Sorry, I zoned out a little." 

"I was just asking if it hurts you when you lift it." He repeated his question. 

"N-no. I mean, like I said, if I was unmasked, it would be hurting me but now that I am wearing the spots, it isn't as much." She said, and he raised an eyebrow. Why did she look so nervous?

"Okay." He said, placing her foot down gently. An unmasked Ladybug. Imagine that. He thought longingly, before putting it out of his mind. There were more important things right now. 

"Right, so my bug senses tell me-" 

"Excuse me? Bug senses?" Ladybug couldn't help but laugh. 

Well, he couldn't exactly call it Laser Point Syndrome without blushing!

"It's short for my Ladybug senses, you know, the ones that let me know whenever you are in danger, is prescribing a diagnosis." 

"Oh yeah? And what's that?" 

"You're going home." 

"What?!"

"I'm not letting you patrol like this. Not when you can barely walk."

"I can walk! How do you think I got here in the first place?" She said indignantly. To prove her point, she took a few steps forward, and her face went promptly crashing into his chest.

"You were saying?" He raised an eyebrow at her as his arm automatically slung around her. 

"But, patrol-!" 

"I'll handle it. Trust me on this." He grinned. "Just tell me where to drop you off, and I'll be on my way." 

Ladybug stared back at him, daring him to change his answer. 

"You do realise you're important, right? Not just because you're the guardian now." He said, his resolve hardening. Ever since he messed up big time in New York, he was trying his hardest to be the partner Ladybug needed. He would never leave her behind again.

"Chat..." her stance was weakening, and she let him scoop her into his arms. 

"Alright, where to?" He asked, holding her close. 

"Just...just drop me off at Francois Dupont. I can find my way from there." She said quietly. 

"Done." Chat said, walking over to the edge of the roof. 

"Chat?" Ladybug said suddenly, making him stop. 

"Yeah?" He asked, and she surprised him by kissing his cheek. 

"Your Ladybug senses rock." 

It was a miracle he found his way to the school. She had reduced him to an incoherent babbling mess.

* * *

"Dude, we need to talk." was the first thing Nino said to Adrien when he opened his car door. 

"Uh, good morning to you too?" Adrien said, confused. 

"There's something going on with you and Marinette, isn't there?" 

Adrien choked on his own saliva. "Nino!" 

"What? So you aren't dating Marinette?" 

"Y-you can't just say things like that!" Adrien grabbed his arm and pulled him inside the school building. "And no! Of course not! You know she's just a-" 

"-friend you'd drop literally everything to catch when she falls? A friend you don't stop gushing about? A friend you look at like she's your whole world? A friend you danced with and couldn't get past an automatic door with?" 

"Who are you? _Alya_?" 

"Buddy, look, you know it's okay to like Marinette, right?" He asked seriously. "I mean, we all saw the way you two looked at each other in New York-"

Adrien made him stop by putting his hand up. Oh no. His hands were tingling again. 

"Hold that thought!" 

He didn't know how, he didn't know why, but he knew that Marinette needed his help. He ran out of the building, only to find Marinette and Alya carefully crossing the road with a crutch and her bag slung over her shoulder. There was a cast on her right leg.

His heart pounded in shock. How did he know? Seriously, how did he know? 

What did he even call it? Laser Pointer Syndro- no wait, that was STUPID. Plagg was getting to him.

Ladybug senses? 

_'Yeah, way to give yourself away, Agreste. Why don't you tattoo '_ I'm Chat Noir' _on your forehead?'_

"Hey, do you two need a hand?" He asked, ignoring his stupid thoughts. 

"Sure!" Alya said almost immediately, grinning as she handed over Marinette's bag to Adrien. "Take care of my girl Adrien! She better come back in one piece!" 

"Adrien!" Marinette stammered nervously. "It's okay, really, I don't want to bother you." 

"It's seriously not a bother, Marinette, I promise." He said warmly, slinging her bag over his shoulder as he took her hand. 

"O-okay. Thank you." She took his hand and squeezed it back. 

"Ready to take the first step?" He asked, guiding her over to the stairs. 

Marinette placed her foot first, but that turned out to be a mistake, because she put too much pressure on it.

"Careful!" Adrien warned, his arm going around her upper back. "I'm sorry, Marinette," he rubbed her arm gently. "Does it hurt too much?" 

"Yes." Her lips wobbled involuntarily. "I really should have been careful on the stairs yesterday." 

He hated seeing Marinette so upset, so he tried to uplift the mood. "Hey, you know, my laser- uh, intuition tells me that if you place your crutch first instead of your foot, it should help." 

"Intuition?" 

"Intuition...senses, whatever you want to call them, bug - they tell me if you're in trouble." He said without realizing who he was talking to. "Told you it works."

"Nice try, mon chaton. Did you know that I hurt my foot while you were nestled up in your house far, far away?" 

"Of course I did. Nothing is too far for me when it comes to you, m'lady." He said cheekily. 

* * *

It took a full minute for them to process everything.

Adrien let both the bags on his shoulders drop exactly in sync with Marinette's jaw.

"IT'S YOU?!" They both shouted at the same time. 

* * *

"You know, Alya. " Nino said, looking at their two friends from inside the school. "I think when you asked Adrien to bring Marinette back in one piece, you jinxed it." 

"What do you mean?" Alya asked, confused, and in reply, Nino turned her chin towards the bird's eye view of Adrien and Marinette, standing frozen at the top of the stairs, not taking their eyes off of each other. 

"Great going, babe." Nino said, sighing. "You broke them."

The very next second, Marinette dropped her crutch and threw herself into Adrien's arms. 

They didn't let go of each other for a long time. 

Alya elbowed her flabbergasted boyfriend, smirking widely. "Did I?"


End file.
